Drainage-excavator.



M. G. BUNNELL.

DRAINAGE EXGAVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.10, 1908.

991,696. Patented May 9,1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

TTO/fP/VEYS,

y UNITED STATES OFFICE.

MORTON G. BUNNELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICK C.AUSTIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAINAGE-EXCAVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May t), 1911.

Application filed December 10, 190B. Serial No. 466,809.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that l, Mou'ron (i. liuuulcni., a citizen of the llnitedStates of America, and resident of lhicug'o, Cook county, llli nois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement', inDrainage-lilxcavators, of which the tollowing is a speeit` fation.

My `invention relates to drainage excavators of that type in which abucket or scoop travels back and forth upon a swingn ing` arin or runwayadapted to reach across thc ditch or trench which is being formed, oracross the, area to bc rxcavated. and at one side otf which the body ofthe machine .is adapted to stand.

In a drainage excavator embodying the principles of my inrention, thecontents of the bucket or scoop may be dumped at either side of theexcavation, inasmuch as the en tire machine is supported upon a turntable. llt-'lith this arrangement the bucket or scoop may be. filled andthen drawn to the outer end of the runway, at which point it can becaused to discharge its load` thus gradually accun'iulating a volume ofdirt at the farther side of the excavation. On the other hand, and forother kinds of work, the bucket or scoop can be titled and run out tothe end of the runway, and then by raising the runway and revolving themachine on the turn table the load may be discharged at the same side ofthe excavation at which the excavator is standing. Furthermore, thebucket is preferably made wider than the runway, and with thisarrangement the cut made by the bucket or scoop will be wider than therunway, permitting the latter to fall downward to any desired depth. Inthis way the excavator can be brought into position, the runway can belowered to permit the bucket to rest on the ground, and the engine drumscan then be operated to cause the bucket or scoop to travel back andforth and gradually Work itself down into the ground, and the dept-li isnot limited by the extent to which the bucket projects below the lowersurface of the runway. Thus the ultimate or full depth desired for thetrench or ditch can be reached at every step or position of theexcavator, and when the end of the ditch or trench is reached the fulldepth will have been reached throughout the entire len th thereof.Again, and with my improve arrangement, a vertically swinging boom isdisposed above the runway and provided with means for supporting thelatter, whereby the. cable for raising and lowering the. runway extendsupwardly thcret'roin, and is adapted to exert a more, direct lu'nvardpull upon the end of the runway, when it'. is desired to raise thelatter out ot the excayatirin. lin addition, {,provide means forcentering the pull upon the bucket or scoop when thc latter is beingdrawn toward the machine. for the purpose ot gathering` a load. lsaidmeans ('fonsisting preferably of a bail adapted to emlinacc the runway,and provided at its middle. portion with a wheel. adapted to travelalong the upper surface of the same. lVith this provision the bucket isadapted to travel more. easily and effectively along the runway orswinging arm upon which the same is mounted, and which is adapted toreach from the side of the body of the excavator and extend across thearea to be excavated. After the bucket or scoop is filled by movement ofthe same toward the body of the excavator, it is then caused to travelbackward to the outer end of the said runway, and upon reaching theouter end of the runway the bucket or scoop upset and the contentsthereof discharged at the farther side of the excavation, lf desired,and as previously explained, the bucket or scoop can be run out to theouter end of the runway, and the entire excavator can then be swungaround to bring the bucket to a pointY where it may discharge its loadon the ground or into the water at the same side of the excavation atwhich the body of the excavator is standing. The nature and advantagesof my invention, in connection with its use for excavation for drainageand other purposes, will, however, hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a drainageexcavator embodying the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan ofthe excavator shown in Fig. l.

In these two figures it. will be seen that intermediate portions of therunway, the boom and the cables are shown broken away for convenience ofillustration, it being understood that in practice these are usually ofconsiderable length, depending upon the kind of work the excavator isintended to handle.

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a body or platform A mountedto revolve upon 'the turn table l5, which latter' can be supported fortransliortation upon land or water, the saine being shown mounted uponrollers (l, to enable the excavator 5 to move along step by step in thedirection of the ditch or excavation. At one side of the said body arunway l is pivoted thereto at (Z, said runway having an upturncd outerend portion rl', and its opposite sides providing` tracks or ways (Z2,it being observed that the said runway may consist of an I- beam bentinto the Info-per shape. A boom E is also pivoted to the body at (Z andprovided with two lower sheaves c and a. sheavc c at its upper and outerend. The outer end of the runway is provided with a pivoted or swinginglink (Z3 to which is se cured the lower end of the hoisting cable F,which latter is arranged to run over the sheave c, and has its other endwound upon the operating drum G. lith this arrangement thc runway can beraised and lowered to accomplish the different operations necessary inexcavating. The said boom may be raised and lowered by means of ahoisting cable H that has 011e end attached to a link c2 pivotallysecured to the outer end of the boom, which has its other end wound uponthe operating drum I.

An upright structure J is mounted on the body of the excavator, and atits upper end the said structure carries a. pivoted link j, which latterin turn carries a sheave .7". At the outer end of the boom, and adaptedto rotate about an axis coincident with the axis of the sheave c', thereis another sheave e3, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. It will be seenthat the hoisting cable H is arranged to travel upon these sheaves c3and j', thus giving increased hoisting power for raising and loweringthe boom and the runway. Thus there are two arrangements for raising andlowering the runway, namely the cable F by which it can be raised andlowered without shifting the boom, and the other cable H by which boththe boom and runway can be rai-sed and lowered about the axis providedby the pivot cl at the side of the machine.

An excavating bucket or scoop K, preferably wider than the runway, isprovided with wheels 7c adapted to travel in the tracks provided by theopposite sides of the I-beam forming the runway. The said bucket orscoop has a closed outer end c, and has its mouth or open end 752disposed in the direction of the body of the excavator, whereby thebucket is filled by movement along the runway toward the excavator. Thesaid bucket or scoop is provided with a bail or draft appliance 7c3 thatembraces both the bucket and the runway, and which is provided at itsupper or free end with a wheel le* adapted to travel along the top ofthe runway. A cable L for filling the bucket is secured at one end tothe said bail 703 and at its other end to the operating drum M, thus thedraft of the cable L is centrally of the runway and the bucket, and thebail is prevented from dragging on the runway by the wheels 71:4 whichrun upon the top of the latter.

For pulling the bucket or scoop back to thc outer end of the runwaythere is 'provided a cable N which has one end attached at n to thetruck-like structure that forms the upper' portion of the bucket orscoop, and which has its other end wound upon the operating drum O. Ashcavc P is mounted upon thc outer end of the runway, and it will beseen that the operating cable N for causing the return or backwardmotion of the excavating bucket is arranged to travel over this sheaveP. and between the sheaves c, whereby it is guided in its back and forthtravel. A brace or stay rod Q, preferably connects the outer end of therunway with the pivot or axis d, whereby the runway is prevented fromgetting out of shape.

With the foregoing construction the operation is as follows: Theexcavator is positioned at one side of the area to be excavated, and therunway is lowered to enable the bucket or scoop to reach the surface ofthe ground. By operating the cable L, the bucket is then drawn from theouter end of the runway toward the body of the machine, and as it dragsalong the ground it is caused to fill. When loaded, the bucket is thendrawn by the cable N to the outer end of the runway, and upon beingpulled on to the upturned outer end portion of the runway the bucket isupset and the contents thereof discharged at the farther side of theexcavation. Or, if it is desired to discharge all or a portion of thedirt at the other side of the excavation, then after the bucket isfilled the runway is raised and the entire eX- cavator swung around uponthe turn table, thus bringing the bucket into position to dump at theother side of the excavation. It will be seen that the back and forthmovement of the bucket on the runway results in the cutting of a groovein the ground, which groove is wider than the runway, whereby the bucketand the runway may be allowed to descend to any desired depth-that is toSay, to the full depth desired for the ditch or trench. Then the runwaycan be hoisted out of the groove thus cut, and the excavator can then bemoved along one step-that is to say, suiciently to bring the bucket intoline with the ground at one side of the groove which has been cut. Inthis way the runway and bucket are permitted to descend again to therequired depth, resulting in widening the groove cut in the ground,which groove, it will be seen, extends transversely of the directionwhich the excavation must take in order to form the desired ditch ortrench. The operation above described is repeated, the excavator beingmoved along step by step until the ditch or trench has been excavated tothe desired depth for the full length thereof. It will be seen,however', as explained, that for each position of the excavator thebucket is allowed to descend for the full depth desired for the trenchor ditch. With the bent or angular formation of the runway, the bucketis caused to descend into the ground at one side of the trench or ditch,and to then cross the latter and rise at the other side thereof, and byproperly manipulating the runway the cross sectional outline of thetrench or ditch can be determined. Obviously, the excavator can be usedalso for operating upon an embankment or ridge of ground, and fortransferring the same to the other' side of the body of the machine. Inother words, my improved excavator is not limited for use in buildingrtrenches or ditches, as it may be used for other purposes. It will alsobe understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction shownand described, nor to the use of the excavator on land, as it is obviousthat it may be supported upon a boat or scow, and that other changes maybe made Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

W'hat I claim as my invention is:

l. In a drainage excavator', a body, a runway thereon, a bucket arrangedto travel back and forth on the runway, a bail for said bucket, a cableattached to said bail, by which the bucket is filled, and a wheel on thebail adapted to run on the top of the runway.

2. In a drainage excavator, a body, a swinging runway at one sidethereof, means for raising and lowering the runway about its axis, abucket traveling back and forth upon and held to its work by saidrunway, the bucket being wider than the runway, a draft connection forthe bucket, and a wheel on the said connection traveling on the top ofthe runway.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 7 th day of December 1908.

Witnesses CLARENCE E. TAYLOR,

E. H. CLEGG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

